The document outlines eight digital business tools designed to enhance productivity by replacing complex legacy systems. It reviews various tools across different categories including collaboration (Slack, Cisco), project management (Trello, MS Project), employee performance management (15Five), and security (1Password). Each tool is evaluated on its pros, cons, pricing, and overall benefits for modern business operations.

1. 8 digital business tools to
Swap Complexity
for Productivity
Magnus Blikeng
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2. Swap complexity for productivity
One of the key challenges that stops modern companies from
working productively is a reliance on complex legacy digital tools
which are;
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1) Very complex (version 13.4.1)
2) Designed for desk bound office workers
3) Don’t provide an api or integrate with your workflow
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In this presentation we have identified x8 digital tools you can use to
swap complexity for productivity.

3. Evolver is a digital strategy consultancy
We help companies master digital. We do this through accelerated
evolution – by transforming operations, unlocking new opportunities
and helping them achieve their digital vision.
!
for more information about how Evolver can help your business
email hello@evolver.com or visit our website www.evolver.cc

4. Communication and Collaboration
©Toiletpaper Magazine

5. Email
IBM Notes (Lotus notes)
What: Email Collaboration client
IBM notes provide integrated email, calendar, IM and
publishing platform.
!
Cons: Builds on IBM legacy systems (Lotus and Domino)
makes it difficult to integrate external APIs/software, as
a result everyone in the organisation has to use the
same system, regardless of skill set.
Price: Depends on sale volume
www.ibm.com/notes
Slack
What: Integrated Collaboration Client
Slack is a real-time collaboration tool with an emphasis
on IM, archiving and document search.
!
Pros: Integrates with modern workflow systems, e.g.
Dropbox, Trello, Google Hangout, Mail Chimp.
- Channel organisation makes it easy to organise
different work streams.
- Device/OS diagnostic with simplistic UI.
Price: $0-12.50 / user / month
www.slack.com

6. Remote Collaboration
Cisco video conference systems
What: HD video conference (hardware and software)
A high-end video conference, where different team
members should feel like they’re seated in the same
physical location.
Cons: The service require both parties to have the Cisco
hardware/software, which makes it difficult if you’re not
in the office.
- Calls need to be scheduled, so it is difficult to cater for
spontaneous communication between team members.
!
Price: $3,999 - $49,0000
www.cisco.com
Sqwiggle
What: Instant Video Communication
No calling, no accepting. The service keeps you
passively connected to your team by updating a still
image of each team member several times a minute so
you can see their face and know they're availability.
Pros: Provide async and sync communication with
remote team members, without having to schedule a
call. This allows the team interact naturally and diminish
the feeling of physical distance.
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Price: $9 / user / month
www.sqwiggle.com

7. Employee performance management
Email + MS Word / Excel
What: Weekly / monthly performance reports sent on
email
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Most companies measure and monitor performance of
employees in some way or another. This often done
manually through emails and word processing
documents or excel sheets.
Cons: Manually created word and excel files don’t
highlight patterns or allow for two-way communication
within the same document.
!
Price: MS Excel (365): $20/ user / month
www.mail.google.com/ www.microsoft.com/word
15 Five
What: Reporting tool that work as a two-way
conversation
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Employees spend 15 minutes a week writing a report
that takes the manager 5 minutes to read.
In a interactive interface, which encourage problem
identification, insights, ideas and success stories.
!
Pros: The platform provides a clear structure and good
achieve, where managers and employees have the
opportunity to see past / current reports for
performance and insight purposes.
Price: $5 / user / month
www.15five.com

8. Productivity

9. Project Management
MS Project
What: Online project management software
A project management tools that is integrated with MS
office 365, with core features project forecasting/
planning, report creation and day-to-day collaboration
tools.
!
Cons: Complicated interface that have more features
then usually required for project completion.
- The core elements of the software is built around
Gaantt charts and waterfall methodology
Price: $20 / user / month (ERP)
www.office.microsoft.com/project
Trello
What: Kanban project management software
!
The project management tools has a interface built on a
HTML 5 responsive card structure, which allow team
members to see project progress, add files, comment
and prioritise tasks on the device of their choice.
!
Pros: The basics of the tool is simplistic, which provide
an easy learning curve, as a result the team to only use
features they need, when they get more comfortable
multiple third-party integration can be added.
!
Price: $0 - 5 / user / month
www.trello.com

10. Calendar
OS Calendar
What: Mobile and desktop calendar for Apple OS
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The native calendar provide maps, weather forecast,
events, email invitations and diary overview, on mobile
and desktop.
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Cons: The calendar doesn’t provide real-time
information such as transport and content around the
task or location of appointments.
Price: Free with iOS or OSX
www.apple.com/calendar
Timeful
What: A responsive mobile calendar
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The application identify things that the user wants to do,
prioritise them, and fits it around the set schedule.
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Pros: Use personal information to prioritise tasks and
time, in order to free up the daily schedule to do things
that has personal and/or professional value.
- Blocks out time in the schedule based on to-dos:
Protects time in order to get things done.
!
Price: Free
www.timeful.com

11. Calculations
Calculator + MS Excel
What: A basic calculator and MS excel a spreadsheet
application
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The calculator works well on simple calculation, while
Microsoft excel is used for more complicated calculation
such as graphing, pivot tables and macro programming.
!
Cons: The applications both have their extreme (basic
and complex), as a result they are not providing a
middle ground for fast, reliable and documented
calculations
Price: Calculator: Free - MS Excel: $20/ user / month
www.apple.com/calculator www.office.microsoft.com/excel
Soulver
What: Calculator with words as context
!
Soulver use words such as years, second, USD and %
increase, in combination with numbers, this results in
contextual calculations.
Calculate currencies with real-time data
!
Pros: The use of natural language in the calculations
makes it easy to calculate and brings meaning into
numbers.
- The interface is simplistic, but allows for more complex
calculation if intended.
!
Price: $11.99
www.acqualia.com/soulver/

12. B2B Sales and CRM
©Toiletpaper Magazine

13. B2B Sales and CRM
Goldmine CRM
What: Integrated CRM and Sales software
!
The CRM solution includes sales funnels/analysis,
customer service and capturing of lead contact details.
!
Cons: The software is built on a legacy system, which
makes the interface and user experience very complex,
as a result the learning curve can be steep.
- Tries to cater for all needs, without little attention on
third-party integrations.
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Price: $1,696-$2,995
www.goldmine.com
Q
Pipedrive
What: B2B Customer relations and Sales software
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Pipedrive's core functionality is the sales funnel, it’s
designed to act pro-active towards potential
opportunities, through the sale progress and customer
relations. This is supported by open API, integration of
third-party apps, and email tracking.
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Pros: Drag-and-drop interface which allows for quick
workflow and easy learning curve.
- Integration of multiple third-part workflow apps
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Price: $9 / user / month
www.pipedrive.com

14. Security
©Maurizio Di Iorio

15. Logins, Passwords and Credit Info
Docs, Post-its and Email
What: Sensitive information is often written down on
static documents such as post-its, emails, word docs and
excel spreadsheets.
Cons: Static documents lead to:
- Employees takes the sensitive information with them
with they change job or there are changes to the
information, so new documents has to be reissued.
- Passwords and logins get lost
- Access to services is difficult to regulate, as there are
no hierarchy within distribution of information
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Price: Depends on document bundle
www.post-it.com www.gmail.com www.office.microsoft.com
1Password
What: Security vault and password generator
!
1Password collects all logins, passwords and credit card
information in one location. The information is easily
accessible in all major browser plug-ins and mobile /
desktops operation systems.
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Pros: Dynamic Documents: Access can be revoked or
granted, and information kept up-to-date.
- Provides a single access points for all sensitive
information
- Information can be stored locally or in cloud software
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Price: $34.99 Mac OSX and iOS $9.99
www.agilebits.com/onepassword

16. Summary
Email: IBM Notes (Lotus notes)
!
Remote Collaboration: Cisco video conference systems
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Employee performance management: Email + MS Word / Excel
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Project Management: MS Project
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Calendar: OS Calendar
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Calculations: Calculator + MS Excel
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B2B Sales and CRM: Goldmine
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Logins, Passwords and Credit Info: Docs, Post-its and Email
Slack
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Sqwiggle
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15 Five
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Trello
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Timeful
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Soulver
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Pipedrive
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1Password

17. www.evolver.cc
!
@evolverHQ
Magnus@evolver.cc
!
+44 20 3095 4101